Healthy and Green Living

Consider these creative alternatives to conventional greeting cards that both you and the environment can appreciate. (The ideas are ordered from the least effort to the most effort.)

* Send E-Cards. Care2 offers a gigantic directory of options, and you will not waste a single tree.
* Send 100 percent recycled paper or tree-free cards made by environmental organizations like Defenders of Wildlife.
* Glue pictures from old cards onto homemade or store-bought recycled paper to create new cards.
* Glue pretty paper on the inside of old cards to cover previous writing–and send them again.

Make Beautiful Recycled Paper Out of Paper Shreds
Step 1: Cut junk mail into small shreds, soak it in warm water for about 2 hours, and blend it in a blender.

Step 2: Add small quantities of flowers, grass, and leaves for fun, color, and texture.

Step3: Spread it out on a flat, fine-holed, wire-mesh screen—use a rolling pin to flatten it.

Step 4: Smear a tablespoon of cornstarch over the paper to increase its strength.

Step 5: When it dries, you can use this paper as stationary, to decorate used boxes, or even to make holiday cards. (For an even prettier look, glue dried flowers on top of the paper.)